Vote Local In Food And Wine's Best New Chef Competition

By Anthony Todd in Food on Mar 13, 2013 7:20PM

Every year, Food and Wine Magazine puts out a list of the Best New Chefs in America. Now, "new" is a bit of a strange designator, since many of these people have been chefs for decades, but it is a great way to keep track of great restaurants and serious talent. This year, a whole crop of Chicagoans have made the initial cut, but they need your help to win.

This year, amongst several other good "Great Lakes" chefs (they use a similar categorization to the James Beard Awards), six Chicagoans are up for the honor. The chefs include Matthias Merges (Yusho), Lee Wolen (The Lobby), Jason Vincent (Nightwood), Matthew Kirkley (L20), Thai Dang (Embeya) and Jimmy Bannos Jr. (Purple Pig). If you had to only go to six restaurants in Chicago, that's not a bad list. Bannos and Vincent were up for the honor last year (so much for new) but they certainly deserve another shot.

We won't reveal who we voted for, but if you haven't picked one, go for it.